Wall

Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)

While rambling around the garden on a recent afternoon, I spotted an unfamiliar butterfly resting on a blown thistle head. It looked a bit like a Gatekeeper, but with a lot of extra spots and barring. Clearly, this was something new! I snapped a few pictures and went in search of Mike for an ID. One look brought him scuttling out with his own camera. It's a Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), a widely distributed but seriously declining species here in the UK. Since the late 1970s, its numbers have dropped by more than 75%, making it one of the island's most imperiled butterflies. It's clinging on along the coasts of England, Wales and Ireland, and in southern Scotland, but has largely disappeared from the UK's interior. And it's not common anywhere now, with only small numbers seen in most places. Wall Brown caterpillars feed on various grasses (including Common Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) and Yorkshire Fog), so our pocket meadow (which has plenty of both) might prove appealing if this male managed to find a female. Wall Browns are named for their habit of basking on walls and other stony places. This one moved from its thistle to our greenhouse door later in the afternoon, the better to catch the sun's rays. Adults fly from May to October, so we could theoretically see another one or two. Given their small numbers, that would definitely be a treat!